While Adélaïde Labille-Guiard took part in several mediums, she was famous for her oil paintings, specifically of the human figure. The use of oil paint by women was widely frowned upon by the culture of her time, and often women who ignored this faced backlash. Women were encouraged to practice only small paintings and pastels, and to draw minimal attention to themselves, as they were expected to do in all other aspects of their lives. They faced scrutiny if they showed their work publicly, because they were not “supposed” to be a part of that world.
Instead of submitting to this ideal and cultural norm, Labille-Guiard made strategic moves to benefit herself and her work, and she also had female students who worked alongside her. Labille-Guiard was known for her ability to create portraits with extreme likeness to the models, and the pieces in this exhibition reflect that. She can accomplish this with both oils and pastels, and she does. This is a chronology of both Labille-Guiard’s work and her student, Marie-Gabrielle Capet, who were both gifted in the art of anatomy and countenance. These two artists had a habit of painting or drawing each other, and it is visible to an onlooker who they were within the art itself.
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, Self-Portrait with Two Pupils, Marie Gabrielle Capet (1761–1818) and Marie Marguerite Carreaux de Rosemond (died 1788), 1775, oil on canvas, Accession Number: 53.225.5
This piece depicts Labille-Guiard as a self portrait with two of her students. It was used to promote the participation of more women within the art academy, because at this point in time it was extremely exclusive. It includes Labille-Guiard in clothes much too fancy for painting, which, while this was common in portraits of her time, also represent her ties to the royal family through her commissions. She was one of the only women commissioned by the royal family at the time, and this painting was both included in and madly successful at The Salon of 1785.
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, Head of a Young Woman, 1779, pastel on paper, The J. Paul Getty Museum Object Number 96.PC.327
This artwork is not a painting, as Labille-Guiard was inclined to do, but rather it is a pastel piece. This particular painting was not done with a model, which is unusual in Labille-Guiard’s practice, as is the representation of the female nude. She gives us a wide-eyed woman with an uncovered torso, who is beautiful and anticipatory. Labille-Guiard is creating a sort of sexual tension within this piece, and she makes the woman human. She does not attempt to ascribe divinity to the subject as a means of elevating her from sexuality, but instead she keeps her in her humanity, making this piece much more real and relatable to the female gaze.
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, Head of a Young Woman, 1779, pastel on paper, The J. Paul Getty Museum Object Number 96.PC.327
This piece was not created by Labille-Guiard, but her student, Marie-Gabrielle Capet. It is very clear that Capet was the student of Labille-Guiard through the style of her painting, but she also has a certain originality within it. She is recognizable from Labille-Guiard’s Self-Portrait with Two Pupils, but she has a certain animation or glow to her that was absent in the previous painting. It is clear that she was taught to be able to perform in more than one style, and this painting was one of the 21 presented by female painters in the Salon of 1791, meaning that Labille-Guiard’s painting promoting the attendance of women at the Academy had impact that was not negligible.
Labille-Guiard, Study of a Seated Woman Seen from Behind (Marie-Gabrielle Capet), 1789, Red, black, and white chalk on toned laid paper,The Met Accession Number: 2008.538.1
This piece is a small part of Labille-Guiard’s collection. While this medium is what was mostly used by the women of her time, this piece is actually an anomaly. It is another portrait of her student Capet, and it was not something done for the Salon. This was a draft, or study, which is very rare in this artist’s history. It is a reflection, though, of the artist’s attention to detail even when it isn’t meant to be displayed. It shows the carefulness of the artist, and the weight of her hand.
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, Marie Gabrielle Capet and Marie Marguerite Carreaux de Rosemond, no date, Black chalk with stumping, red and white chalks on beige paper, The Met Accession Number: 1998.186
Like the piece before, this piece is also an outlier in Labille-Guiard’s portfolio. This piece was another study or draft of Labille-Guiard’s. This drawing was done in order to prepare for her Self-Portrait with Two Pupils, seen earlier. This piece shows her attention to detail as well as her commitment to being as true to space and placement as she possibly could be. This is another example of Capet showing up in Labille-Guiard’s work, and it shows how talented she is in faithfully representing the way that the model truly looks, by how recognizable the model is throughout the different works.
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, A Fashionable Noblewoman Wearing a Plumed Hat, c. 1789, pastel on blue laid paper mounted on canvas (on strainer/stretcher), National Gallery of Art Accession Number 1999.92.1
This piece is slightly different from other works by Labille-Guiard that have been seen in this exhibition. Unlike the other works, this woman seen in the painting does not have a name, but she is instead a “fashionable noblewoman.” This is another representation of the ties that Labille-Guiard has to the royal family and their courts. It is also a representation of how women and nobility were expected to look and dress within 18th century France, reminding of the time and culture that Labille-Guiard is in.
Marie-Gabrielle Capet, The time in the Atelier of Madame Vincent around 1800, 1808, oil on canvas, Bavarian State Painting Collections Accession Number FV 9
This last piece is another by Capet. It is a self-portrait that includes several other french painters, including Labille-Guiard. It is a much larger scene than looked at before, marking the progress that Capet has made in her own art and talent within painting. She creates recognizable figures within a very large setting, creating depth and space within a room that was not seen from her previously. It is a marker of how far the accomplishments of female painters have come since the initial influence and encouragement of Labille-Guiard.
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